Bible ReadingJohn 4:1-42 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
[53:13]John 7:37-39 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
[01:05:15]Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
[01:07:53]Observation questions- In John 4, what details show the Samaritan woman was focused on the physical well and physical water, while Jesus was speaking about something deeper? [54:54]
- What examples of “earthly wells” were named that can give something good for a time but still have limits? [57:22]
- After Jesus spoke about the woman’s personal life, what does the passage show that Jesus knew about her, and what did he still offer her? [01:00:31]
- What changes can be observed in the woman after her encounter with Jesus, especially in what she left behind, where she went, and what she said to others? [01:10:12]
Interpretation questions- Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.” What does that help explain about why even good things in life cannot carry the weight of being a person’s true source? [56:45]
- Jesus knew the woman’s past and present, and still offered her living water. What does that reveal about grace, and why does that matter for people who feel ashamed of their story? [01:00:40]
- Jesus says the water he gives becomes “a spring” within. How is that different from returning again and again to an outside well, and what does that suggest about the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life? [01:04:23]
- The woman went back to the same town and the same people, but she did not go back the same person. What does that suggest about how inward change in Christ begins to show itself outwardly? [01:14:15]
Application questions- What well does a person most easily return to when feeling tired, empty, anxious, or overlooked? Is it success, money, relationships, recognition, comfort, or something else? What makes that well so appealing right now? [01:00:55]
- If God allowed something important to be shaken or removed, what would that reveal about where trust and security have really been resting? Would “only Jesus” still be enough in that place? [01:02:16]
- “Seek first the kingdom of God” sounds clear, but real life gets crowded quickly. What has been competing for first place lately—work, family pressure, plans, reputation, or comfort? What would putting Jesus first look like this week in a concrete way? [01:08:09]
- The Holy Spirit gives direction, help, and reminder. Where is there a need for that kind of guidance right now—a decision, a conflict, a temptation, or a season of pressure? How can the group pray into that specifically? [01:06:15]
- Changed lives flow outward. In what relationship or setting does the group most need living water to change its response—at home, at work, in stress, or in conflict? What might a more gracious response look like there? [01:13:46]
- The Samaritan woman did not wait until she had all the answers before speaking. What personal story of God’s faithfulness or work has been kept too quiet? What makes it hard to share, and with whom could it be shared naturally? [01:11:03]
- Earthly wells can meet real needs, but only God gives peace, direction, and clarity. Where is there a temptation to expect another person, achievement, or opportunity to give what only God can give? [01:18:46]
